Panasonic targets Bangladesh, Africa as new markets

The Dollar Business Bureau

Panasonic India aims to enter Bangladesh and several African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria to enhance its smartphone markets across various continents.

The company is currently operating a full-fledged manufacturing facility in India and sells bulk of its product in the domestic market.

The company also looks to double its headcount in field testing, software testing and software development to 300 persons over the next one year.

Panasonic has established its global headquarter in India for its mobility business, which is currently operating as the hub for markets including Bahrain, Egypt, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the UAE.

India currently accounts for almost 90% of the company’s mobile sales. Other countries such as Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka too are meeting the company’s sales needs well. 

"We will enter Bangladesh market by September-October this year. We will also expand beyond South Africa, where we are currently present, to other countries in Africa such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana by a similar timeframe. In effect, the share of outside-India markets, which contribute about 10 per cent to our overall mobility revenue, will rise 30 per cent by fiscal-end," Pankaj Rana, Business Head - Mobility Division, Panasonic India said to PTI.

The company would target a 50-50 revenue ratio for India and overseas market, he said.

Referring to the African countries’ potential, Rana said Panasonic plans to sell smartphones in all 54 countries in the second-most-populous continent. "The African continent is the next big market for us not only for mobile business but at a Group level, too. We hope to be in all 54 African countries in the next one year. But the African market is different from the rest as some of the countries have operator-driven models and some are open channel markets.”

The company’s software and R&D centres for mobility business are located in Japan, India and Vietnam. In India, it has field testing, software development and software testing operations in Bengaluru and Gurgaon.

"In India, we have 150 engineers, only in mobility business. With expansion of product line-up and sales, it may go to 300 people in the next one year," Rana pointed out.